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Seraphine Dawnscry
Seraphine Dawnscry is in short a necromancer, an ''ecclesiarch of Mahathalla, and third generation dread vampire descended from the first generation Gadiel Von AmberRidge. Even after all that and despite all their death threats, the paladins failed to act on their words to kill her for existing. Now she roams the world from Oustomia to Sheng minding her own damn business, watching, waiting, and according to the paladins probably looking for just the right moment to strike and show her true nature. History 'The Manor: 'Long ago around the early 700s there was a farming and hunting village by the name of Amber-ridge. Nestled in a somewhat isolated valley on the edge of Egronian territory in the Kormal mountains. The village was lorded over by a Gadiel von AmberRidge (His last name was actually Dawn-scry) from his manor just beyond the pine forests on the valley's edge. He assisted them on a regular basis with his various scrying and divination abilities, telling them when to plant and where to hunt. Little known to the villagers he had gained these powers through a deal with a succubus, and as many do who make deals with such creatures he fell for both the succubi and her death kiss. However, as the fates would have it, He survived. Though by accident with a combination both his will power and tenacity to never surrender his power he had been converted into a first generation vampire. With the villagers none the wiser he lived on with both his condition and his newfound 'wife' of extravagant beauty, who in actuality was a succubus rather proud of her accidental creation, Seraphine refers to her as 'grandma'. They would go on to have a damphir son named Renwick who in turn over the next 50 years would shift into a dread vampire, marry a human woman named Sarah, and convert her into a dread vampire as well after they had three damphir children. These children included the eldest son and most volatile Maximus, The second child was the scholarly yet haughty Lorraine, and lastly was the youngest of the three, Seraphine herself. All of this going on over the course of two centuries under the grand ruse of every 20-30 years grandfather Gadiel would fake his own death and assume the identity of his son, Serah posing as a new wife for Renwick whom would pose as his son after a year or two of 'traveling abroad', and lastly the two daughters were kept out of sight. To fool the villagers just one step further they were 'married off' and rode out of town on a carriage only to be teleported back in by their caster grandfather. Seraphine bonded best with her grandfather Gadiel and with grandma no longer in the picture-(Because of her need to feed like all succubi.) she got most of her education and parenting from him. While her actual parents were busy trying to reel in Maximus and educate Lorraine, Seraphine spent years with her grandfather learning, art, music, history, magics, how to play the piano, and even of the religions of the vampiric condition. He was the one who taught her her first steps into the divine magics the gods gave their kind and the arts of necromancy they were blessed with. By the ripe age of 43 (or 9 in human years) she was capable of doing the complex act of creating one permanent undead to do as she said, even if it wasn't that strong most beginners can't create undead till they're middle aged, and this made her the star in her grandfather's eye. Everything was great for her until Maximus turned. "The ruse only lasted so long...." : ''As is common with long term presence of powerful undead, especially in the Kormal mountain region, the prolonged negative energy effects on the region grew over time. First came the clouds and rain which Gadiel rationalized that because it's a mountainous area the rain that would normally fall on the desert to the northeast fell in the valley instead because the air was cooler. Then came the slowed crops and plant growth, which Gadiel pinned on some of the local farmers not paying tithes to the temples. Then came ghouls and beasts of the night whom he satisfied the villagers concerns by hiring low end adventurers and setting up bounties on the creatures causing trouble. Then came the restless dead of the villagers crawling out of the ground or rising during funerals to attack the villagers. To this he had no good excuse, told them it was a wayward curse of the south that drifted in on the fog, and that he would work on it. Tensions were high and the populace of the valley were suspicious of the ever worsening conditions. Crops were poor, the wild life getting to scarce and dangerous to hunt, the weather was always overcast and rain, and worst of all they had an undead problem afflicting the local grave yards. To top all of this off one day they had some vampire hunters drift into town to investigate the situation. With the peasants on a witch hunt but not willing to immediately point fingers at the lord of the land the family's plan was to lie low and quiet until the hunters gave up their investigation, killed some undead, and moved on. Unfortunately it was only a few weeks prior that Maximus, the eldest son and most volatile, had made the shift into a vampire. He had poor impulse control when he was only a damphir but now with the eternal hunger looming over him he was downright unstable. Sera's older sister had already turned as well but the hunger got to him first. All it took was one night for the hunger to eat away at him enough that he went on a feeding spree. Exodus: ''He drank...two...dozen...people! In less than an hour. Needless to say seeing the lords eldest son with frenzied eyes, blood running down his mouth, and leaping between buildings ripping out peoples throats combined with all the information about undead and vampires the hunters gave out to the villagers made them react as one would expect. Maximus was found unconscious drenched in blood in the main foyer of the manor with the front door open having burnt himself out after his feeding frenzy. Led by the hunters and a local priest who blessed silver stakes for them a mob of torches and pitchforks made their way for the manor. Gadiel tried to diffuse the situation in the most calm and collected manner the villagers knew him for but this made him too vulnerable and too close to prevent a sudden silver spike from being fired from the mob. Seeing how the blessed silver burned him the grand ruse fell apart and the mob stormed the manor. Gadiel being the closest and known as the matriarch of the whole family was rushed down first by the hunters while the mob went after the rest of the family. In the end many of the mod died in the fighting, only one vampire hunter, the priest, and less than 30 villagers survived fighting the family. The halls were splattered with blood, splinters, and hastily blessed bolts and weapons. The manor was ablaze and six crosses were erected in front of the burning manor. The bodies of each of the family members were crucified with blessed silver stakes and burned till only bones and ash remained. ''The exile moves on: ''Seraphine was the only family member to escape as she had been in the gardens at the time the mob showed up. She was rescued by a retired full plated soldier from the village mob who couldn't bring himself to kill what he thought was a little girl. He absconded with her into the valley forests and was shot in the back by his fellow villagers as he ran under suspicion of being on the 'monsters side' or charmed. While they did manage to escape the old soldier died from the bolts that riddled his back. When little Seraphine realized she couldn't go back and that the one who rescued her had passed on from his wounds he would become the first undead she properly pressed into service so that he could continue saving her. With his skeleton moving once more he would serve as the guardian for little seraphine for decades to come. Amber-Ridge was behind her and too afraid to go back she would find out years later it been reduced to ruins by the manor fire that spread over the whole valley. The land has stayed uninhabitable ever since, the ruins won't crumble and undead continue to be an constant hazard in the region. One thing she does know is that those skeletons nailed to the crosses with blessed silver stakes are still there unphased by age even a century later. ''The grand events of now!: ''When the year 1000 came seraphine would be in her early one hundreds which in damphir years would come out to be around 20-22 years old mentally. No longer entirely dependent on her skeleton guardian she has spent the past six decades traveling about usually to be rejected by the locals as some kind of monster spawn, but in the places that didn't try to immediately kill her she found work, mainly in the form of quests. Despite what others thought of her, the powers her grandfather taught her grew to the point that she even outpaced the skeletal guardian she had kept with her for half a century. She would end up freeing his body to finally rest and move on to bigger and grander things across the worlds of Oustomia and eventually Sheng. With her opinions and perspectives forged by the rash acts of hatred towards both her and her family, she would find peace in one of the less common vampiric gods. The teachings that people should determine their own fate by any mean and never let others, even the gods, have a say in what you are, what you do, and what you deserve. ''The Cult: As is common with like minded individuals they tend to gather together because they agree on something fundamentally important to them. In Seraphine's case she finds company in those who fall in line with the belief that 'You aren't what others say you are, you are what you make yourself' and find company she did. With her divine powers growing as she participated in a multitude of grand events over the years she gathered quite the loyal following of individuals that see her as the Priestess of Mahathalla and the one who will lead as many people as possible through the gate on fateless day once the gate is found. They could be referred to as fanatics, cultists, zealots, or just plain monsters but they all follow her. At the moment her congregation consists of over eighteen thousand humanoids and monsters alike all willing to help her, eachother, and themselves to bypass the boneyards judgement by any means. The blood: It may of taken a few extra decades but just like her now dead father and siblings she shifted from a damphir into a dread vampire. Fortunately she was both well funded and quick enough to arrange for the whole 'sunlight issue' to be taken care of. Now being enhanced even further by her bloodline she was able to participate in a series of wars and efforts to fight other big bad forces of evil across the realms. She'd fought for a number of 'good' causes such as the war agenst The pale King, fighting the Oni empire, skirmishes with the Thii, and a number of battles against Maloglash and his forces. Just building up her power and biding her time while everyone who threatens to end her unlife every day for existing fails to act one their words. Patience is an undeads greatest virtue and she has made damn sure to keep track of every...single...one. The hollow ones: As of this moment (As far as the writer is aware) Seraphine is one of the only Individuals in possession of the tome needed to gain levels in the 'Hollow one' prestige class discovered by Mordred before he was turned into the bright lord. Appearance Seraphine, or 'Sera' as some like to refer to her as, is/was a damphir of slender frame and well grown height formed from a combination of noble genes, vampiric magics, and never knowing hunger like the peasants below her station early in life. She bears the usual degree of albinism that accompanies vampiric heritage with the flawless pale skin, the blood red eyes and the silky white hair. She can usually be seen wearing a sanguine red dress usually fashionable in make for those of the noble class but those who can see past the illusion will find the vampire to be clad in heavily ornamented full-plate of dark metal bearing many necrotic symbols and marks of the cult of Mahathalla along with a plethora of magic items ranging from rods and rings to magic skulls and ancient tomes. All the signs of a life long adventurer covered up to make her look like she belongs among the midnight aristocracy and not a battlefield. Personality Seraphine's personality could best be described as surprisingly stable combination of two heavily opposing zodiacs, Libra and Scorpio. She's prone to never taking sides, refusing to make an enemy out of anyone unless it makes her an enemy of both sides or she has some kind of moral stake in any particular side. She will be heavily loyal to the chosen side until either the side has been wiped out or she finds out she has been lied to. Trust: Being a damphir isn't easy and after a century of being treated like a monstrous outcast she has developed three different extremes when it comes to social interaction with others. # First is that if she doesn't know you or trust you she will be very distant and use various means to avoid both interaction and conflict. She will only really talk to those who start the conversation first and she will avoid a wide range of topics, usually involving opinions or history. # Second is the extreme reserved for those who put forth the effort of getting Sera to trust them. Once said trust is earned sera is quick to lean on that trust to the degree it can seem like venting decades of stored up social interaction. Conversations are a lot more free flowing, she offers ideas, opinions, interests, plans, and may even answer questions posed to her about her necromancy stuff or her history. AKA actually having friends. # Third is the final extreme reserved for those who deserve her hatred and wrath. This extreme has a list of all those that she can remember who have insulted, harmed, or harbored ill will towards her for what she is, her family, or those who fall into the 'friends' category. She avoids these people and all things they are involved in or have made. Waiting for the right moment and the right method to present itself so she can fully make them regret judging her for what she is. Alignment: In terms of alignment if Seraphine had never had the vampire linage or had various negative traits nurtured by individuals who saw her as some vampire spawn monster she probably would have grown up to fall into the chaotic good category, even if she was still anti-social from years isolated in the manor. However this did not happen and she falls into the Lawful evil category because of what is and how she controls it. Being a powerful undead like a dread vampire automatically makes her evil with no exceptions and she is on the lawful end of the spectrum because unlike her brother she exercises a great degree of self control to keep desires and impulses in check. It really helps to keep you alive when you don't drink whole villages at a time when you feel like it or vaporize those who shun her for existing with hellfire rays. Judgement: Despite what her alignment usually implies she abhors the idea of looking at an individual and instantly judging them based on appearance, race, creed, ect. To her after a century of being judged for existing she can't even stand the concept, especially from those that see a damphir or a vampire who's never harmed them as a literal insult to all that is natural and holy in the world that needs to be purged on the end of a paladins longsword. The greatest insult to her is that because she was born and developed into a dread vampire naturally, due to lineage. she has already been condemned to Hell. This is why she follows Mahathalla, as she has been cheated by the current system that judges her for what she naturally is, and the offers the great loophole to bypass this judgement. Friends Pfft~ what friends? I think Lilith and Miyuki fall into this category though...probably Mordred too before he got fused back together. Enemies Do I really need to go into a list of every person that has ever wronged, insulted, or slighted her? Cause then the list of people she needs to burn alive in front of their families would go on forever and then the list would get even longer. Special cases deserving her ire will be noted though. Aspirations Seraphine has a number of things shed like to accomplish in both her (un)lifetime and they even come in a convenient repeatable list format. # Achieve agelessness and/or immortality (Check. She turned into a dread vampire.) # Use the fateless day to bypass judgement in the boneyard should she die one day. (Check, she got beyond morality.) # Resurrect the rest of the Dawnscry family. (in progress) # Enact seven different degrees of excessive Scorpio grade vengeance on all those who have ever wronged her. # Once step four is complete (or in progress) build some really cool stuff like a kingdom, or flying castles, or undead legions or something. Mainly take a break from venting destructive tendencies and focus on expressing more creative and constructive ones to fill the void left by hollow useless vengeance. # Wait for someone to attack, defeat, or destroy the things shes created during step 5. # Repeat steps four through six until permadeath. # Once dead use fateless day loophole to bypass judgement, make her own judgement, and go to the alignment plane of her choosing. Probably go to heaven, Elysium, or whatever plane she feels like having her eternal soul vacation in forever.